Open Mic Magazine: "For the People, By the People"

[Jukon]

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What's up dick weeds? Welcome to another installment of the Open Mic mag,
apologies for the gap in between this and the last one. Emily and I have been
working hard to make OM a reputable place and hoping to see our hard work pay
off soon. This mag is a little different, Emily and I reached out to the active OM
writers and had them sign up for their own sections. So, with that said, we're
getting extremely biased sections as opposed to unbiased. No hate though,
most of you had a lot of good shit to talk about, and some of you talked about
way too much. That's all I have for an intro though, enjoy the mag, if you
don't like it; you literally have no one to blame but yourselves.



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(they're clickable)
1. Slept on
2. SS Review
3. What's Going On
4. Illy's Corner
5. Idiosyncrasies
6. Self Activated
7. Beef
8. Conceptually Speaking
9. Outro

[Jukon]

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“Slept-on Pieces”
By: KnowP
@English – We’re made out of Glue
http://rapbattles.com/showthread.php...de-out-of-glue

You tards gotta be kiddin me. My dude is one of the best to ever do it on RB and this is the love he gets??? This joint right here is packed with substances like Whitney Houstons nose. Bar for bar its riddled with excellent imagery and flawless rhyme schemes. Definitely a piece that should be mirrored and admired if not nominated for March’s HOF! Good stuff fam. Sorry your dope piece got… SLEPT ON!

@SELF ACTIVATE – The story of Kook
http://rapbattles.com/showthread.php...t-Genius!-quot

Man, this piece right wasn’t the GOAT or anything like that, but had more flavor than a chica making salsa while salsa dancing. Concept was pretty nice and it fit the pic he gave as well. Started off pretty slow but had some material that’ll make your head spin faster than seeing a phat pawg walk by. Good work right here my dude. Sorry it got… SLEPT ON!

@_Lyrics – Rainy Eyes
http://rapbattles.com/showthread.php?489671-Rainy-Eyes

You know what rhymes with dead wrong? SLEPT ON! Man yall are dead wrong for not flooding this joint with feed. Shout out to those of you who did, but death to the lazy bastards who didn’t. Very nice imagery off a used image. Vocab and flow structure was seriously hittin on all cylinders. From beginning to end, this piece will keep your attention like a new worldstar premier. Awesome work fam. I apologize for this joint being… SLEPT ON!

[Jukon]

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This past week in the SS has been a mixed bag IMO. While on the one hand we've had the added challenge of blending topics into a single piece, which forced us all to up our game, we've also seen a lackadaisical trend when it comes to check ins, drops and voting. Which is basically my nutshell opinion of the league as a whole; competition wise there isn't a single weak link here, everyone punches their weight and then some, on the other hand there's about half as many competitors as I'd like to see in the league and activity suffers because of it.

So what's the solution here? Advertising? Fabulous prizes? Blackjack and hookers? I'm just hoping that the level of competition is enough to garner more interest before we hit the playoffs. Then again, when the art form's sunk to the point that people now think that a semi-comatose, lyrically bland, wannabe gangster like Drake is talented is it any wonder that the indie scene isn't as popular as it used to be? The SS is a microcosm of intellect that's about as rare as an albino rhino, and it's our responsibility to make sure it fucks to save the species.

Wow, that metaphor really got away from me.

The point to this meandering ramble is that I'm proud of everyone who's keeping this thing going. I just hope we can make the league grow back to how it was back in the glory days. Keep up the good work everyone.

[Jukon]

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Basically with this short section I wanna talk about OM in it's
entirety and address some of the issues/ constant problems
we're having.

1. Links - Listen up, this link rule has been in effect for years,
it will always be a rule that Emily and I enforce. If you don't like it,
and you want to post work anyway, it will be closed. We don't care.
If you really want to write and post something that bad, you will
leave feedback or get the fuck out of this section. Also, don't
expect feed if you haven't left adequate feedback yourself.
TL;DR post links or get out of OM

2. Hall of Fame - Okay, so this one is a little iffy. Emily and I
got a lot of backlash for the past HOF inductions. That's why medals/
accomplishments haven't been updated. They have to be put through
a panel. Although, I'm sure most will still make it through, maybe 1
that might fall through the cracks. From this month forward- all HoF
nominations will be put through a panel of other staff members;
so the process will take longer as it's tough to get everyone on the
same page. But I will try to expedite the process and get everything
done soon.

3. Weekly Challenges - I was out of state for 3 weeks total for work and vacation,
so we got behind on the challenges. They will continue at the beginning of May. I just
needed to take a short break from it.

4. Freeposting - Simple enough, don't freepost and your posts won't
get deleted. What a fucking concept.

[Jukon]

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http://oneyearbibleimages.com/adam_eve_snake.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEkLU2AiJCs
We, The Fallen

We have a ravenous disease, we of the blasphemous sleaze
In need of ravishment; Please, you sacrilegious tease
Fall upon your knees and come with me into the trees
Where I will kiss you free with the Devil’s brush
Breaking chains to your animal lust, it must…

Collide!

Cosmic explosions; exodus fires
These caustic motions of unspoken liars
Burned the churches from the wilds
As broken verses rain in fallen spires,
And from the ruins we will build from this
Devastation a savage wilderness
Bone by bone we carve our crosses
And lead you I will, the darkest prophet
To worship at the altar of pleasure’s promise;

And together we fallen,
Let us bathe within sin-kissed coffins


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HI

Welcome you fuckers. You sinners, you drinkers, you addicts; crazy all of you are. This is my corner, the corner of mine. Sit down and relax. Let’s float around in the pools of our devil’s thoughts. We the writers shall celebrate with our glasses of sweet red sin held high.

Congratulations all, you’re a spectacular group.

Alright, I’m off the poetic crazy shit now. What’s up everybody. It’s me, The Illyricist. This is Illy’s Corner. I’m here to take a look at Open Mic and tell you all the dope shit that’s going on around here. From my glances at really incredible pieces, to the top five writers of Open Mic (in my perspective), and much more. So, I guess the first thing to do is to talk about myself. Hey, it’s only right I hype myself; this is Open Mic after all. I’m the modern Beethoven out here composing lyrical masterpieces y’all could only dream of… lol maybe not THAT good. Let’s get this shit on the road!

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About Me

I go by The Illyricist, the name was randomly chosen; kind of like a lot of the things I do in my life. I’m strolling through the days til’ I get to the point where I want to be. I’ve got aspirations to be a novelist, a poet, a screenwriter… a writer in general. Funny thing is I never imagined myself as a writer when I started high school. I had a few interests, some passions, but no personal direction. Kinda’ liked doing these fun skit projects my English teacher gave us. I was able to make the class laugh, but still I wasn’t a good writer by any means. Sophomore year I wrote an open response and she had two of them she wanted to read out loud. One an A+, one an A++. I was the top dog that day, lol. Couldn’t really believe it to be honest. That was life-changing for me, to feel that my voice was praised and valued like that.

I could be good at writing, I could be better. And from there, everything kind of took off. Writing here and there, getting into college in Boston and all that. I’ve done three different internships out in Los Angeles helping out with production companies and am currently on the lookout for jobs now while doing a few side jobs and part time. Hollywood life is kind of addicting, in good ways and bad ways. Night life is way too fun, and meeting people who created some of my favorite shows is SO FUCKING COOL! Oh, the warm weather is tight too. Back in the Northeast now tho so we’re just getting done with these goddamn cold as fuck winters.

Got many hobbies from reading and writing, to playing basketball and watching. I’ve got this weird assortment of favorite teams that I don’t know how it happened but it did. My pro teams are generally New England squads but in college I love the Kansas Jayhawks in bball, LSU Tigers in football, and my other favorite team in the MLB other than the Red Sox are the St. Louis Cardinals. It’s a random conglomeration and that’s how I like it.

If I’m to recommend my favorite authors to people, I don’t have a set list cus’ I don’t know how to rate the best and worst. It changes all the time depending on the mood. Faulkner, Hemingway, Shakespeare, Poe, John Knowles, Tim O’Brien, George R.R. Martin, this list could go for a while. From “high-class” “art” literature to fantasy and sci-fi. I love it all. Hemingway might just be the favorite though; he really speaks to the silences and gives this face to the inner self so we can look at it and grapple with it.

Guess the best way to finish this all off is to say why I love to write. Well, because it means something to me. I want to share my thoughts, let people breathe in the happiness, pain, nostalgia, everything I’ve lived through. It helps me as a person to put it all down, to learn to accept and move on, to release anger and face the harder truths. Most of all, it’s fun. I do it for me because I have fun doing it. Also, I take as much from my own writing as I do from reading and reviewing others. So, guess this is as good a time as any to shift over to our next segment which is…
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Writer’s Workshop

I’m going to keep this clean and simple. These are things I’ve been taught, things I’ve decided on my own. But these are a list of things that I think would help us become better writers.

1. Show, don’t tell.

Yeah, I know. Real original on that one. But fucking seriously, it’s amazing how many people still don’t necessarily get this. Look, not everything is ALL show without any telling. There’s probably an ideal of 75% show and 25% tell in any piece of written work. But, don’t tell me how clever this dude is in your piece. Don’t tell me how insane this guy is. Show it to me. This is why The Tell Tale Heart by Poe is so effective. The man is so calm, and rational in his explanation of the case for his sanity while he describes the butchering and storing of body parts under floorboards that we can SEE that he’s a psychopath. It’s a hundred times more effective than a line of someone writing “The man is completely sane for killing this dude and hiding his body, because by hiding it he will be able to potentially conceal his guilt.” NOT EVERYONE WRITE’S that terribly, but I’ve seen a few pieces where people have come close to this.

2. Cliché Means Death

The writer’s reaper will come up from the underworld and smite your horrible soul with his scythe every time you use one of these clichés. “Love is a battlefield.” I’m cringing. You should be too you bastards. Now if you wrote this elegant piece about a battlefield with scars and wounds, the soldiers/characters involved with gorgeous symbolism, metaphors, and rhyme scheme? Congratulations – this is how you avoid clichés.

3. Purple Prose

This is the thing I’m guilty of the most. When you write and try too hard, you fall subject to writing these elegant strands of prose that while they may be beautiful; they can be a hindrance to the reader and also a hindrance to you in advancing the meaning of your work. I work tirelessly to stop myself from doing this, frequently checking whether I’m showing off technical prowess and imagination by sacrificing the substance of the content.

4. Bombastic-ness

When I can tell that you’re sifting through the thesaurus grabbing big words that don’t add any depth to your piece other than making yourself look smart… I’ll probably call you out on it. I call myself out on it all the time. Every sacred scripture piece (and every piece in general) I write, I make sure to look at each line and word and ask myself whether I used this word for a reason or because it makes me look smart. If it doesn’t have importance, get rid of it.

5. Kill Your Children

“Does this word/line have an important relevancy to the story?”
This is relevant to number four as well.

Perhaps the most important thing for every writer to learn. To the above question: If it doesn’t, scrap it. I don’t care how cool the word or line is, fucking scrap it. You’ll be ten times the writer when you learn how to kill your children. And by children, I mean that clever shit you write and go “Oh man that’s so dope I gotta have that.” Sorry to break it to you, but it’s not that dope if it doesn’t fit the scheme of what you’re trying to do. It’s just hollow words.

6. You Are The Shit

If there’s one final thing I leave you with in this list of writing rules (I’m keeping it simple because if I didn’t I could go on forever. This list covers the core of what you need to be an excellent writer) then what I want you to understand the most is that YOU ARE THE SHIT. You’re awesome. Your voice means something not only to yourself, but others. Don’t sit on the sidelines when you have an opinion, voice it. Even if that opinion is factually unsupportable; you’re not going to learn to fix your voice and train your voice to say things with substantial meaning unless you fucking put the work in. BE CONFIDENT in what you have to say. Straddle the line between confidence and cockiness like a professional.

I’ve been to so many workshops that I see people say things like, “this is horrible, but…”, “not my best work, but…”, “I just wrote this in like twenty minutes last night, but…”. Fucking stop it. Stop yourself right there. Don’t make excuses for yourself for writing bad shit. Hell, I don’t even know if you wrote bad shit but I can tell that you think it’s bad. Two things. Either get better at it, or become more confident. Truth is, you can do both. I don’t want you to waste my time or your time by giving out shit. Look, we all start with awful writing. Every one of us has broken these rules horrendously the moment we started writing. But keep getting better, keep thinking about how cool the imaginative visions you have are, keep thinking… no, keep BELIEVING that your words are cool. YOU ARE THE SHIT. You should have a mentality that you’re the best writer out there. I’m not telling you to go out and be a snobby elitist dick to the faces of others, remember… this is a mentality. I want you to believe that you’re the shit, and the more you keep up wrting and learning, the more you’re going to prove it not only to yourself but others. You can always get better, so keep writing. You can always learn more, so keep listening. You can become as good as your idols; in truth, you can become better. So don’t bullshit yourself with lies, don’t be an asshole when you review other people’s work but also don’t lie about it. Don’t sweeten up your criticisms. We’re all gonna’ have to learn to take the good with the bad. If you can’t, you won’t make it. But you can.

Why?
Because you’re the shit.

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O.M.O
Open Mic Opinions

What do I think of Open Mic? It’s dope. The people here are dope (most of the time). The works here are dope (some of the time). Is it all sunshine and rainbows around here (look at that cliché, I’m such a hypocrite)? No. So, here’s my pros and cons of the Open Mic section.

The Negative

1. Rhyme-focused works

Most of my complaint here comes from the fact that this place is called Open Mic. An Open Mic night generally includes singing, poems, and rhymed topical pieces. It’s an inclusive type of thing of lots of different poetic forms. Everything stems from poetry, so I find it weird and a little restricting. Could simply be the name of the section; it’s just straight up misleading. Just find it kind of weird that we’d restrict people to a specific kind of form.

2. Shit Reviewers

I’m tired of seeing lazy ass shit. Why is my imagery dope? I’ll go out of my way to lay it down for you why I like what you did in your piece and I’ll also try and put in my own thoughts of what I think didn’t work. Sure, some of my reviews will have some vague generalities that I need to work on giving you more concrete criticism; but I’m not about to sit over here and give you a few lines of rehashed bullshit. Reviewing is a respect thing. Give it if you want it.

Remember, this don’t apply to all because there are people out there who give tremendous feed and I respect them the most on this site and in this community. I’m inclined to give them better feed than someone who gives me nonsensical shit.

3. Weird As Fuck Drama

The fuck is with all the online trolling and name-calling and shit. I get it, we got this site literally called “Rap Battles” so I understand all the testosterone flying around in this bitch like a fucking sausage fest. I’m cool with the trolls that make me laugh with their harmless shit. But the hell is with some of the seemingly genuine animosity. If you got history? Leave it out of the public threads, take that shit to the PMs. You’re probably not going to change anyone over the internet. We all need more love and hugs in this place. Except in the battles, leave the hate there where it’s supposed to go. Or in an open mic piece. Idk, I’m probably overthinking a lot of this but it just gives bad vibes.

The Positives

1. Rhyme-focused works

Both a positive and a negative. I also really like this aspect of Open Mic. It forces people to learn assonance, multis, internals; all these cool rhyme schemes that provide a rapper’s flow. What I didn’t like about the superimposition of focusing on this in the negatives was that this can fuck up a person’s content cus’ they sacrifice quality for a rhyme. But, at the same time when people are looking for all these rhymes they are unconsciously learning new words they didn’t know before. An enhanced vocabulary is always welcome by me. Shout out to 143. And, seeing the best at this combine wordplay, rhyme schemes, AND content (kinda like Self Activate); it’s a pleasure to read. It really is.

2. Good reviewers

You out there, you know who you are. The one’s who take the time to go through and give a little bit more than the average reviews people throw out. I value that shit. Your input means the world in my improvement, but also in terms of feeling like someone is listening. You’re all stars.

3. Great writers

This is not the form I would have picked out for myself as I tend to break the rules when it comes to writing. But the form and function with this rhythmic flow to open mic writers is such a cool thing to see. You’re some of the best writers I’ve seen all around the Internet when it comes to this stuff. You all motivate me to be better, and you all should know that you are good. Keep getting better though, that’s the challenge.

4. Sacred Scriptures

What an incredible league! I’m learning more every day writing with you guys. You can’t come in with a lazy piece at all because it’s almost guaranteed that your opponent will drop a top notch piece of writing. 143, you’re the man for keeping up with this league and keeping the seasons going. Your work is highly appreciated. Every member involved presents new and original material. Day by day I’m learning the schemes and the styles; so watch out! I’m coming for that championship!

5. The Mods

Emily and Jukon (and anyone I’m missing that I haven’t had the pleasure to meet yet). You two are stars. Great writers on top of that too. Keeping this place going means a bunch to me and a lot of others around here. My experience with you both has been drama free so far, and that’s damn nice. You’re good writers, good people, and I respect what you both have to say immensely. I don’t think it’s possible to thank you both enough. Oh, and 143 if he’s a mod too! I’m not hundred percent sure but he seems to run all S.S. stuff so I’ma count him anyway. 143 is also the man.

RESPECT THE MODS. These people are doing so much to keep this site together.

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Top Five Writers of O.M.

Of what I’ve read so far, this is my top five talents in OM. I can’t say this is in order by skill, just my pick of the best five from my opinion. It’ll be from mostly recent writers as I haven’t read the old-time posters. Anyway, here we go.

Self Activate

Self Activate, lol. If I want to go with another great name, it’s his. Once it’s match-up time in SS (unfortunately he couldn’t drop this time around, but hey shit happens…) it’s game time. Self Activate, ACTIVATES. It’s like a magical switch to his brain and the words come flowing out smooth like a faucet. And not only that, the concepts are seriously interesting. He understands character, plot, and the idea of a beginning-middle-end. His “Kook” piece recently shows the vivid nature of his imagination which is extremely fitting because that piece investigates mental issues like schizophrenia. And the formatting is purposefully done to show off that crazy disorder of the mind. His syllable usage is intelligent, rhyme schemes can be complex or simple. The dude is straight up talented and hard to beat in the OM style. He’s representative of how good this all can be, and he can only get better. Wanna’ get better at this style, he’s a great writer to read.

143

They call him Mr. Vocabulary for a reason. Digits here has read the dictionary from front to back and that’s one of the coolest details to know about a person. Hell of a feat too, and it feels proven with the number of google searches he causes from everybody reading one of his pieces, lol. But, here’s the thing. 143 does something mostly well that others don’t. He doesn’t feel bombastic. It feels like the words got a purpose. Kinda like he’s the preacher man with an array of words to share the knowledge. But he’s got tight schemes, visuals, and advanced words. He’s unique, and that’s part of what makes O.M. so cool. Everyone here is so different.

Judge Mentill

One, I love the name. Seems like everyone ‘round here have names that fit them. Judge Mentill, Judge Mental. The man is definitely mental when it comes to writing. His concepts are as creative and imaginative as they come. The man might be rusty but every week I see him getting better and better. Getting the point he was before or perhaps soon enough he’ll be exceeding that. He’s got a HOF piece in which I think he had the highlights of the collab. Slick slick visuals, every time I feel like I’m in the movie theater. I can see myself one day considering himself the best of OM.

KnowP

Common theme here is I haven’t read enough, but I’ve also read enough to know that KnowP is dope. He’s a veteran and has a knack for flipping concepts and words to make them his own. Sick flows, nice rhyme schemes. Probably one of the more polished writers and his experience shows. Usually not a wasted word with him. He can do deeper topics and also come in with the 1-2 punch battle style lyrics. An all around talented writer.

Celph Taut

Tight rhymes, cool concepts, great flow. You’ve got a hell of a mind and I love it when that imagination flows. Your collab with Goliath, for me… Was one sided. Not only in length, but quality. You were the star of the show and you shined brilliantly. Your imagery was pristine, and dirty with the gangster lifestyle view. You’ve been around and it shows with your experience. You know how the words play and you’re the playwright. Dope shit, dope writer.

Honorable Mentions:

To be real, I think I can switch in and out anyone from the top five and the honorable mentions. The amount of talent here is incredible. You all have so much to say and so much skill that you can be interchangeable. You ARE interchangeable.

whoami

Multis, internals, conceptual ideas, flow; you’ve got a lot of literary weapons at your disposal and your Vision Heir piece was a flashy display of them all. In honesty, I think your material can be even better than that. That was a showcase of skill but it felt a little bit like it sacrificed the depth it could have had for the sake of scheme. Specific over broad is usually the better way to go. Nevertheless, you’re an excellent writer.

English

Ain’t read much of him, but the name is fitting with his control of his words. His OM piece “We’re made out of glue” is a testament to that. Needs to upgrade his review game (except the fact that you can be brutally honest: and A LOT OF PEOPLE LACK THAT), and stop drinking so much… but hey, we’re not all perfect. Lol, no hate man. You got my respect as a writer especially when you can think and write with the quality of the best around here.

Conceptual

Sermon In The Parking Lot is enough to give Conceptual a place on this. I haven’t reviewed your piece yet as there are a lot of them I need to get to. Just, wow, man. The rhyme scheme you had worked the flow with precision, and the subject matter matches the intensity. Your name is not inaccurate; at all.

‘pHX

Putting you here because I simply need to read more of your work and get to reviewing it. From what I’ve skimmed, I know you’ve got high quality talent and skill. Give me time and the reviews will roll in. You seem mostly chill too and that’s a plus with me all the time. The man here has an understanding of not sacrificing the specific depths for the broad strokes by using the right words over the cool sounding ones.

Defy-Gravity

LOL. I think you’ve got such a humorous style to the subject matter, it’s great. Your structure and skill is underlooked at even from my lack of reviews. I promised I’d get to them and I will especially because you seem slept on.

Emily

Know you don’t write too many OMs as you’re more poetic based. But, I believe skill and talent transitions to any form of writing and your ‘sluts and insecurities’ piece shows it. A grasp of flow and rhythm combined with precise wording and an engaging voice is a lethal combo. You’re one of those intensely unique writers on here where I feel what you write comes straight from the mind without filter. Always looking forward to the next thing you drop.

[Jukon]

http://i67.tinypic.com/4rz5f9.png

Hola amigos! Your friendly neighborhood Idealizt here! When the idea of an e-magazine for Open Mic was introduced, I knew I wanted to contribute in some fashion but was not sure how. Fortunately the wonderful, ever-lovely Miss Emily contacted me with the idea of including my honest opinion of the forum and after brief correspondence, we settled on the idea that I simply add my perspective of the current state of affairs - a state of the union address, if you will (oh, and you will). Thus, please allow me to disclaim everything that follows is distinctly of my opinion alone and in no way reflects the views of anyone else whatsoever, particularly our excellent moderation team in RapBattles' most illustrious couple, Emily and Jukon! [Insert roaring applause here.]

For the sake of brevity and in hopes of avoiding redundancy, I will highlight my current likes and dislikes of the Open Mic forum in general to include the atmosphere, characteristics, and - the lifeblood of the forum itself - its writers without overloading anyone with trivial details. Be forewarned that you may not (and probably will not considering I am a very controversial individual) agree with anything I state whatsoever, so if you find yourself getting offended . . . I win! >=]

Serious mode re-engaged: If you have any questions or comments whatsoever, please feel free to state them in the thread itself or contact me via PM. My username is @whoami for those unaware, as in: Who am I to voice my opinions and concerns on anyone or anything, specifically in regard to RapBattles.com? Well, the short answer is: I am no one; and in essence, that makes me everyone.

Thank you for taking the time to read!

######

State of the Union Address

First I want to acknowledge the efforts of our awesome moderation team, Emily and Jukon. Both of these individuals are excellent people, in my opinion, in many ways. The forum upkeep is maintained thanks to their contributions as staff members. They work together to organize weekly, monthly, and special events to pique the interest of not only the forum's regulars but potential newcomers as well. They are active in contributing feedback to posts and acknowledging posted efforts via weekly challenge notices and monthly Hall of Fame inductions. They are also both talented writers suffice to say. Thank you both for your dedication and time spent in contributing and encouraging this hobby of ours.

I am of the unrelenting opinion that things - anything - can always be improved. Even if I may not have the idea of innovation for improvement myself, I am always certain someone somewhere does. Whether they realize it or not, that someone somewhere has the key to a small ingredient of great proportions to be bestowed upon us all. What I mean by this is that even the most unsuspecting contributor - no matter the frequency of their contribution - may have the grandiest idea lying dormant in their subconscious, ready to be manifested in the world for us all to benefit. This paragraph is in essence a sort of disclaimer to enforce the idea that my suggestions for improvement are not announced aimlessly. I in no way mean to come across as someone looking to tarnish anything or to present myself as someone who has all the right ideas. I only espouse my opinion to engage in civil discourse in hopes that I may inspire an even better idea within another individual.

That being said, I want to say that this forum is a great resource in many facets. It is a great pool of talent with - unfortunately so - vast untapped and unrecognized potential. Some of us are able to realize this potential in each other because, to paraphrase a quote I recently read, we all understand each other as deeply as we understand ourselves. It truly is a great cosmic act of nature that we engage in within this forum, a sort of spiritual ping pong of love where we project our raw selves to anonymous entities in hopes that we may be received with an open mind and open arms and in kind return this love in our own unqiue method. I have a lot of respect for this forum and those who endeavor to journey throughout our extraordinary landscape. A lot of things are "right" about this forum and I hopefully made that clear earlier on when highlighting the efforts from our moderation team in particular.

When it comes to recommending improvements, I will begin by reiterating that I wholeheartedly believe everyone and everything can always be enhanced. I can certainly improve myself in terms of sheer activity when it comes to giving feedback for one. I have a particular obsession with wanting to offer outstanding feedback every single time I read a piece of writing and simply thinking about such a daunting task is mentally draining. I want to be able to comment on someone's work and not chop them down but encourage them on the aspects I believe they can be improved upon. For whatever reason, this task does come across as tedious to me and in effect debilitates me from saying much at all. I recently started to work on convincing myself to just offer something - anything - if I read someone's work to at least let them know it was read. I start by rearranging the proverbial shoes I am wearing and think to myself, "As a writer, what type of feedback am I hoping for?" The answer to this isn't concrete: I am absolutely fine with any and all feedback, and I mean that in every sense of that phrase. I am absolutely fine with one line, two lines, three lines, what have you, of feedback saying, "Hey man, this was a dope piece! I really loved your rhyme schemes most of all! Great work!" to give an example. As a caveat, I don't believe such nonchalant feedback should count as a feedback link to be completely honest. I believe a decently sized paragraph (at the least) from the feedback author that makes it clear they read the original writing would suffice. Thus, seguing into my final comment on this issue, detailed criticism is absolutely phenomenal and should be the ideal, the goal, that everyone strives for when delivering feedback. This is the sort of brutal honesty that we as writers need to fuel our creativity. Without anyone to break us down, we cannot rebuild ourselves. Not to discourage this particular effort at all, rounding back to my original point of this coming across as tedious, I can understand that not everyone has it in them to be such a detailed critic for a multitude of reasons. Thus I want to make it clear that I am personally a fan of all feedback no matter the detail and I openly encourage everyone who may be teetering on the edge, thinking, "Should I write this feedback? Should I just ignore it altogether because I don't think I'll come across as critical enough?" to just go ahead and tell them whatever it is you are thinking. If you like something about their writing, tell them! If you don't like something about their writing, tell them that as well! There's no need to believe you need to write a Ph.D. thesis explaining every last intricate detail, but you should at the least articulate why you like or dislike something.

I am already surpassing the character limit I had in mind for this section, so I will do my best to wrap up my views with as much due diligence as possible. I can get long-winded when it comes to writing . . . and that's precisely why I am a writer, lol.

My next idea has been established as subject to debate (as all ideas should be): I believe the Open Mic and Poet's Corner forums should be merged. I understand that in particular Jukon does not like this idea (and his activity on the site is contingent to their continued separation) and I am sure there are others of the same opinion. I respect these views. I, personally, am a fan of their separation myself because I do like the fact that poetry seems to have some sort of reverence to be distinguished from other styles of writing. Here is where I must defer from my own opinion: I believe that the merger of the two forums would be for the greater good of the entire RapBattles community. To me, an open mic implies a forum (in the broader sense of the word) where anyone has the opportunity to express themselves verbally without any restrictions whatsoever. It is the purest form of not just freedom of speech, but freedom of expression. Offline an open mic would not be exlcude poetry, it would include it. Thus I see the merger of the two forums as a matter of making poetry more inclusive to the writers of the site. The way it stands now, it almost seems as if the Poet's Corner forum is for a particular brand of writer. I feel like this discourages people from delving into the world of stereotypical poetry. In all honesty, everything we write here is contemporary poetry; so why should we make a distinction where there really is none? I also feel like the lack of activity for both forums will be diminished by this simple merger which in turn would hopefully encourage, foster, and stimulate even greater activity. I don't see the need to impose a set of rules for Open Mic submissions. Rules themselves are a set of restrictions, boundaries, limitations. I, for one, am not a fan of chains of any sort - I am as libertarian as they come. I believe one of the main arguments from merger opponents is that submissions typically suited for the Poet's Corner would not be as appreciated in the Open Mic forum. That is not something I agree with . . . If the Open Mic forum is established and made clear that it is truly an open platform to present your creative writing, we may see all sorts of greatness grow from this. Writing is not something any one person can restrain and it begs to be free. If the Open Mic forum was presented as a forum for creative writing as opposed to whatever stereotypes are presently imposed upon it, we could see a whole new set of writers and writing as a result to include short stories among many various forms of writing.

Stepping down from my podium, the merger idea is not a "make or break" idea for myself. I will live if the forums are to stay separated, I promise. I simply think it would be a progressive step in terms of potentially transforming what the Open Mic forum represents. The perspective I have in my head foresees the Open Mic forum taking a life of its own . . . and this is why I am an idealist. ;]

After lamenting my two biggest opinions on feedback and the merger, I want to conclude with this: Thank you to everyone who contributes to this forum in every possible fashion. Your contributions are no in vain. I only ask that you not be vain yourself and to remember that this forum only works by supporting each other. I understand the egotistical need to have your work - a reflection of yourself transcribed into words - recognized, acknowledged, and potentially exalted by others. Trust me, we all understand this need whether we admit it or not. But this forum does not operate without us taking the time to deliver the due diligence to our fellow man and woman, our fellow writer, in the form of feedback, which is precisely why I harped on it earlier. It is as simple as this: Think of how you feel when you post and no one bothers to reply. It makes one wonder, "Why did I even post in the first place?" Thus, go ahead and help out someone with some feedback, critical or not, to at least acknowlede if you felt some sort of connection to the piece or not. At least they are given some sort of direction with which to work.

So much for brevity, right? >=]

######

Wordsmiths I Like!

Here are but a few of the writers I am a fan of with focus on those who are more active. This order is not hierarchical by any means, it is simply a listing:

1] Emily!

There are rules for drowning, I assure you. First rule of drowning: You do not talk about drowning. Makes sense, right? Because once you have drowned, you cannot talk any longer . . . Moving on.

If I have not made it abundantly clear in nearly all of my feedbacks of her work, I am a huge fan of her writing. There are probably countless reasons as to why this is, so it is very difficult for me to list them in any coherent order or lament particular ones, but I will try.

I find her womanly perspective refreshing. Given the context of the forum we are on and the domination by testosterone, this may not come as too much of a surprise (or maybe it does, I don't know). Anyhow, I am a staunch lover of women of all kinds and as a result, any woman with the capability to be simultaneously charming, intellectual, and creative is impossible to overlook. She is wonderful with words delivering powerful poetry the elicits real raw, primal emotions. I can't even begin to accurately articulate how I am envisioning in my head the sensations she delivers from her writing. Her words just deliver a real sense of emotion. They don't come across as forced, or superficial, or done for the sake of doing, but as translations of these urges we feel on a daily basis into words.

I don't know, really hard to describe what I'm trying to convey. I am not infallible to ineffability.

2] The Illyricist

Illy is dope, bar none. Illy comes through with some very interesting reads that are unique for any of the forums I am a member of. He presents us with these real epic stories that reflect on literary classics most of us are probably familiar with, such as works from Homer and Poe in particular. I see a lot of potential in his writing with tremendous amounts of creativity and knowledge of literary devices. I am almost at a loss for words with Illy as well, but it is only because I am not familiar with him any further than the few writings I have read of his. I don't want to sound disingenuous, but I feel like he is heavily underrated and not given enough exposure. His writing submissions can be "long" to today's ADHD-riddled reader, and in comparison to the average drop here, but it is worth reading every word. I find this may scare off a lot of potential feedbacks, mine included. He puts in a lot of effort into his writing, it is obvious, and I feel it would be disingenuous to drop the cursory feedback I encouraged earlier. Yes, slightly contradictory here, but his writing is so elegant and epic, it beckons an equal quality of feedback in return. However, don't let this stop you from reading his work. He is a very unique writer and more than likely has a spot on your favorite writer's list of favorite writers.

[Jukon]

http://i67.tinypic.com/2ngegps.png
The OM ... what the fuck is it? I have no clue! And I'm sure most of you don't either. I mean, it's not quite rap and it's not quite poetry, yet, at the same time it's kind of a mixture of both ... I guess. I suppose to me it's just pure creativity in written form. Obviously, I'm talking about topicals, but that's what we do here in the OM. We write fuckin' topicals! And what are topicals? In a nutshell: they are what happens when imagination meets pen and paper. The only rule to writing them is that they need to rhyme. And the better, the more fluid the rhyme, typically the better the topical. However, it's not all just about the flow (i.e.; rhythm). In fact the most important aspect is not just the technique, but the combination of both technique and substance interwoven in a way that takes great skills to craft, but little effort to read or appreciate. That's the secret. That's the magic of topical writing and the OM in general. As for this OM specifically, I'll say this ... regardless of what you might hear from site-to-site vagabonds, RB's OM is among the best of the entire inter-webs. ABC rhymes and weak content get no play here. And even so called "netcee legends" from other sites that travel here are merely run-of-the-mill members once they land in this forum. Why? Simple ... we get busy with our pens here and either you come with you're 'A' game or you get the C- treatment. It's not that we're harsh; it's just that we've been around for a long long time and understand that honest feed back and constructive criticism are two of the best gifts you can give any aspiring young writer. The best single gift however, is inspiration, thus, with every verse dropped most writers here try to inspire their fellow forum mates through demonstration. Long story short...Rapbattles.com's Open Mic forum is the best. Now how long we hold that title is up to how active we keep the forum. Because after all -- if we want reads we gotta leave feed. Peace.

[Jukon]

http://i63.tinypic.com/qxugk6.png
I've always found 'beef' weird, to be honest. I don't really know what
it accomplishes. As far as text battling and diss writing, it brings a lot
but unless you fucks are gonna drop disses, knock it the fuck off.
It's accomplishing nothing in this section. I wanna see the disses,
not this back and forth back handed shit. Let's take a look at
the beefs we have here in OM, lol.

Whoami vs Cody Phoenix
This seems to go deeper than the forum, and while I like
diss shit and all that, I know neither of these two text battle
but that would be an interesting battle to see just with
how much they know about eachother. I respect both
of these writers, just wish they could find that common
ground and just write.

Johnny Blaze vs Everyone
This one honestly just baffles me. Good kid, good writer,
just some weird deep rooted hate for everyone. Like I said
before, find that common ground, and just write dude.

Emily vs Dagel
Another strange one, really. And I'm not really sure how
it started. Basically just back and forth of derogatory
comments from both people. One went MIA, one
stuck around. One dropped a diss (click here), nothing
reciprocated from that diss.

[Jukon]

http://i68.tinypic.com/eki2c7.png
This section is something new for me, anyway. It's just going
to be pictures and concepts for you guys to use as topics
for any piece you want.

IMAGES
http://i63.tinypic.com/x22t5j.jpg

http://i64.tinypic.com/n8e2u.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/2vrvhn9.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/241sgaa.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/29pymba.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/2j63047.jpg

TEXT TOPICS
Black and White
Basket of Bones
Dead Skin
Devastation
Ashes to Ashes
Evolution

SONGS
The Exception to Everything
Memento Mori
No Giving Up
You're Cute When You Scream
Voices
Pretty Girl

MOVIES
American Gangster
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Donnie Brasco
Krampus
The Great Gatsby
Chameleon

[Jukon]

http://i65.tinypic.com/15xok5u.png
Ok, so, on a site like R.B, the people are the most important thing.
If it wasn't for you guys, we wouldn't be reading and feeding and laughing
and mucking around. It's always fun for me (well, for the most part) to come into
OM and check who wrote what, the style, the rhymes, the melodies, I mean, I love it all.
There are some pieces that make my mind go nuts. The talent is sensational.
There's so much to be learnt on a site like this. Some people leave amazing feed,
and a writer can really grow and elevate because of that input. We mix with like minded
people and have a love of rap and writing in common.
The feed situation however, will always be a battle for mods in OM.
No one likes having to close pieces (that's why I give Jukon the baddie role, and he does it)
but from time to time, we still get cut down when we have to close stuff.
I always feel bad for the person who went to the trouble of writing something,
only to have it closed. And I'm sorry about that people.
But then again, I think about how that person posted that piece for 'feed'.
The same 'feed' he/she couldn't be bothered leaving for others.
So...a part of me goes into 'fuck it' mode and just switches off after that.
All we can do is leave a 24 hour warning (which normally runs longer) and
then if there's no links, shut it down.
One rule for all. No exceptions. No one is above the link rule.
And until admin decides that rule no longer resonates with OM,
then it's in place and while we're here, it's being enforced.
And it really doesn't matter how many say "Fuck U" to me after
it's been shut,I'll still wish you a nice day.
I love R.B, and I love OM and I want to say a big thank you to all our
writers who take the time to write and feed and are cool to be around.
If anyone has issues with anything at all in OM please feel free to pm Jukon or
me and we'll try to sort stuff out for you asap. If we don't, just remind us. If
you guys have suggestions on how to make this place better, more active,
what not, feel free to shoot those thoughts out in OM chat or pm us.
We're always interested in your ideas and what you have to say.
Thanks to the amazing people who offered to write something up for this edition
of the mag, 'For the People, by the People', getting your input without anyone
giving guidelines was great. I loved reading your ideas on OM. Thanks for
taking the time. It's appreciated more than you know.
And lastly, thanks to Jukon for being a brilliant mod to work with, and a
top notch person. He's got a good heart and it shows.
We took over from Tim because there was no one here to run OM for a while and
we've stayed longer than we initially thought we would. You guys have been the reason.
It's because of you.
There have been some really weird pieces dropped in OM, the one that comes to mind is...
http://rapbattles.com/forum/showthre...astiality-Porn
'The Queen of Beastiality Porn.' Yep. But unfortunately, or fortunately,
lack of links means no feed.I often wonder what sort of hobbies people take up when not on R.B?
The mind boggles.
It takes all sorts, and all sorts of writing makes it into this section of the board.
And for me, It's always a blast to read stuff that you guys think up.
Thank you Jukon for putting this mag together.
I appreciate everything you do for OM and the site.
People, keep on posting, keep on writing, we'll keep on feeding and keep on loving, your work.
You're inspirational.

[KnowP]

Completely outdone yourselves with this mag. All content was dope! Great job to everyone involved. Mad props to illy for the top 5 mention. Although I feel I don't deserve it, I'm honored. Gotta take it to the next level since you want to give me a reputation n shit lol thanks though my dude!


@Jukon you're doing a dope job modding this section too dog. keep it up. keep these mags coming too. Its not "leaf man" material but it gets the job done!

[Jukon]

Lmao no leaf man will ever make it to my mags

[KnowP]

Lmao no leaf man will ever make it to my mags

not even like the one ill wanted me to put in the 1-2 mag?

[TheIllyricist]

This is fucking dope!

First, thank you @Emily @Jukon

You're awesome for making this happen. Great work putting this altogether. Loved the outro and conceptually speaking bits right at the end, that was all very cool. Might have to take up one of those topics and write something if nobody else does. The beef section had me laughing lol. In agreement with the Slept On pieces.

Much love to @Judge Mentill @KnowP @SELF ACTIVATE @whoami for all the work you guys put into this. All of us together made this possible (gotta add Em and Juke in here too of course!). And, I have to say this was some pretty good shit.

Thanks for the shout out whoami, I appreciate it man. Everyone involved in this has got talent and it's great to see.

[Emily]

Good job guys, you're the ones who made it, thanks for your work. It shows how much love there is in OM.
Also, the 'readers' who 'don't feed' but 'just read' the silent ones who come on as guests and don't talk, don't drop and keep to themselves. I often wonder about you lot, who you are, why you keep coming back and reading, why you check in as guests,
I don't know, I'm curious. I often wonder what you guys think. And also, to the people that haven't been mentioned, but do drop, we're sorry everyone can't be named but we've got you on feed and would like to hear more from you guys in future mags.
There's talent here.